Barium Titanate-Polymer Composites Produced via Directional Freezing

In this study, we use a freeze casting technique to construct ceramic-polymer composites in which the 2 phases are arranged in an electrically parallel configuration. By doing so, the composites exhibit dielectric constant (K) up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of composites with ceramic particles randomly dispersed in a polymer matrix. In this technique, an aqueous ceramic slurry was frozen unidirectionally to form ice platelets and ceramic aggregates that were aligned in the temperature gradient direction. Upon freeze-drying, the ice platelets sublimed and left the lamellar ceramic structure intact. The green ceramic body was fired to retain the microstructure, and then the space between ceramic lamellae was infiltrated with a polymer material. The finished composites exhibit the high dielectric constant (1000) of ferroelectric ceramics while maintaining the unique properties of polymer materials such as graceful failure, low dielectric loss, and high dielectric breakdown.